Will a 73-79 ford truck go over 85 mph with a stock motor. my 79 bronco will only do 85 with a 400m, but will do 80 in second gear, my 76 f-100 will only do 85 with a 302, can old fords go any faster, I had a 77 f-150 with a mild 351m and it would only do 85 also, my 74 f-250 4x4 with a 390 will only do 75, but it is very heavy. I dont run fast very often but I don't think they can go any faster.

 

In my younger years, I've been clocked at 115mph in the old '70. It was a very smooth road, flat, level, and long. These trucks have the aerodynamics of a barn-the wind turbulance is scary enough without the road adding to it. I also had an old '73 3/4 ton with a 4bbl 390, NP435, and 4.56's that'd get 100mph anytime, but that 390 was wound pretty tight! Now that I'm older, the next time I do 100mph, it'll be on a race track, inside a rollcage.
Jason Kendrick
1970 F100 Custom 390/C6
1978 F150 Ranger Lariat Supercab 460/C6

 

Well I have had my share of high speed experiences with old fords, they will flat haul ##### if you want them to. I have done 115-120 in a 69 F100 2wd with a 390. But that was flat open roads too. My 77 4x4 will hit 100-105 no problem. I have a frinend that has a 79 2wd with a built 400 and it will really go too. Another friend as a 79 2wd with a built up 460 and that is just insane as to how fast it will go, almost scary. The bottom line is they will go fast you just have to give them the juice to get them there. High speed rear ends help a bunch too. Anything between 3.15 and 2.75 will get you rollin pretty fast, not much pullin power but you can fly with them.

Nitro

 

William, is the problem that you only have 85 on the dial, or are you saying that when it hits 85 mph it wont go any higher. I don't have a clue besides low gearing what would stop your trucks from running faster. I don't know just how fast my truck will run with the 352 pumped up a little, C6 tranny, and 2.75 rear gear, but at 100 it's still getting up. My old red beater is still pulling hard at that 85.

John
jowilker


66 F100s
In the still cool hours of the night,
you can hear chevys rusting away.

 

Hillbillyk I have a 1979 f150 4x4 with a 351m/400, c-6 trans. I had another truck that the powertrain was in. I totalled that truck shortly after I installed the 4" lift with 33's in it. Not too long after doing so I found another 79 4x4 w/ 300 6cyl, 4-speed. I took all the powertrain & axles from the totalled truck and put it in my new one. But before all that happened a friend and I were driving to work, we usually met up with each other on the interstate somewhere and would pretty much race each other to work. He (at the time) had a 95 Toyota 4x4. We were racing to work one morning and I just punched my gas to the floor and heald on. When I got to work he asked if I was crazy. He said that his truck (the toy) was doing somewhere around 110-115 and just barely staying on my tail. So I hope this will answer your question.

 

must be nice, my 74 f-100 has 3:1 gears and a tight c6, but the 302 is tired, I have to floor it to keep up with people taking off at stoplights. my speedo only goes up to 85, but the needle barely moves past 85, one of the trucks had a 100 mph speedo, but would only do 85. I guess my trucks are just slow, I can still beat mustangs off the line with my bronco and supercab, people give you a funny look when a f-250 4x4 that sits way up and is louder than hell with a rusted out supercab that leans to one side and an old stake bed blows them away in their mustang, I just have to take my foot out of the gas at 65 to end the race so they don't blow me away.

 

My brother had the speedo on my dad's 79 Bronco with a 400 and c6 wrapped all the way around back to 5mph, now that's fast. My grandpa had a 66 F100 240 3 speed up to 100. So yes a ford will go faster than 85.

Brent

1969 F100 2wd

 

Check your ignition timing! My guess is that you could use a few more degrees of advance. My experience, with many Ford trucks over the years, is that top speed is really only limited by the max rpm's your willing to push em to! Even the 6 cylinders will hit about 100 if your willing to rev em high enough.

I'm sure that if you are running out of power before your running out of SANE rpm's, that a little tweeking on your ignition timing will solve your lack of high speed.

As for the other posts that talk about instability at speed... You must have worn front end components, improper tire pressure, or alignment problems! I've had at least a dozen Ford trucks over the years, and each was as stable at 90-100 as it was at 50!

 

My car with a 302/c-4 ('77 merc. monarch), is VERY heavy, and will not spin the tires with the automatic and the 3:1 gearing, but will peg the speedo at 120 anytime; I've had it pegged from Salt Lake to Idaho before. And after the speedo stops going up, the speed is still climbing considerably.
In my Mustang II with a 2.8L and 4 spd., (I should've never sold that car!) would peg at 120 also and still go. I didn't keep it there for long, because the RPM's in that tired six scared the crud out of me. That car handled like I was doing 30 when it was closer to 130. I tried to slide that car around some parking lots, and it just wouldn't slip, although once it snowed it wouldn't move at all!
I haven't driven my truck enough to find out yet...

-Andrew
f250_64(No Email Addresses In Posts!), same for yahoo messenger

Nothing, and I mean nothing, stirs the soul, saying I'm a bad **** like lettin'em rip with a window shaking, fuel gulpin, carbon monoxide belchin, attention gettin, V-oh my LORD!-8!

 

I have a stock 390 4barrel do you think it would do over 100 with a 4.11?

 

William, it might, but that 4.11 will make the engine screem for mercy. It should do 0 to 60 real fast.

John
jowilker


66 F100s
In the still cool hours of the night,
you can hear chevys rusting away.

 

My trucks might be slow but tonight with my f-100 I was hauling a full load of wood and an allmost new small stationwagon tried to pass me, I put my foot on the floor when he was beside me and it took him allmost a half a mile to get past me, another car was going to pass me when I took off at a red light and I was putting out so much smoke when I got on it hard that he backed way off and rolled down his window, lol, I love having fun with people. If it dont burn a little oil, it aint running right.

 

William, you need to quit drinking that stuff. :-)

John
jowilker


66 F100s
In the still cool hours of the night,
you can hear chevys rusting away.

 

My uncle claimed his 1970 F100 302, NP435, posi rear would go 115 but was "frightening" at that speed. The 1970 speedometer only reads to 110 or 100 if I'm not mistaken.... so he was guessing at anything over the max speedo value. That was back in 1988.

Adam

 

My 70 Ford with a 360 and mild cam was clocked coming over a hill at 125MPH, It took a while to get her up there but when I saw the cherries on the HP car it didnt take long to slow down! Big fine, but I was young and dumb.